An invitation to members living just west of Toronto who
would like to be involved on a more regular basis in discussions of the topic Spirituality
at work.

Since February 1999 a regional group of professionals and
business leaders has been meeting in the Waterloo and Guelph area. As a
group, we meet 3 times a year - February, May and September. People attend this group from
Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph, Cambridge, Burlington and the surrounding areas.

Below is the e-mail that has been sent out to current
participants. Please feel free to join us - let us know in advance if you are coming, so
we can have enough tea and cookies on hand!

Dear Friends:

Just a note to remind you of our next regional meeting of
the Spirituality at Work Group. As decided at the May meeting, we will meet next on
Tuesday evening September 14 from 7:00-9:00 p.m.

This is the retreat centre newly renovated by
Les Holdway. It is located just minutes north of hwy 401 on several beautiful acres,
complete with walking trails. If you need more details re: how to find Townline Road
please either call Les Holdway at 519-220-0213 or e-mail me.

Please e-mail me or call me (519-669-4991) by
Friday, Sept. 10 to let me know if you are coming and to ensure you know how to find the
place. Feel free to bring other interested persons - just let me know ahead of time.

Agenda:

An opening and closing ceremony by Leslie
Gabriel Mezei

Leslie is from Willowdale and has been quite
involved in the last two conferences organized by the Centre for Spirituality at Work,
held in Toronto.

Brian Skerrett will
lead us in a discussion based on the workshop he led at the last Toronto conference on
practical applications of spirituality at work. Brian was our host for our May meeting in
Guelph.

At the May meeting, we discussed what we mean
by"Spirituality" and "Spirituality at Work". The following are what we
came up with:

1. "Spirituality"

a sense of being beyond our physical selves

our relationship with God, people, and the creation (We found that some
people were uncomfortable with this language: an interesting and unresolvable discussion
ensued.)

participation in deeper meaning and in the essence of Divinity

the core or centre of life, which sets the framework for all else

mystery

justice, equality, respect

questions

compassion

gratitude

awareness

wisdom

2. "Spirituality at Work"

a yearning to find meaning in work in a technological age

overcoming our alientation to our self in the workplace, i.e. seeking

integration

creativity

celebration

We decided it is more helpful to define
Spiritualty at work by what it is, rather than by what it is not.

Some wondered what our theologies have to do
with getting us to a point where we could define this? In other words, how do our world
views, the various ways we speak of Spirituality - in some cases using particular words
like God and even Spirit - influence what we mean?

While we found that our exact articulation of
definitions differed in many cases, and that our comfort levels with various words were
not always the same, it was a good opportunity to engage in a dialogue on words we
sometimes assume mean the same to all.

In addition to this discussion, we also
confirmed that as a group we want to meet 3 times a year: February, May, and September. We
also confirmed that we welcome new people--to all and everyone interested in soul and
spirituality in the workplace--to join us anytime.

I encourage each of you to check out the
web-site of the Toronto Centre for Spirituality at Work. There are up-coming workshops and
other announcements listed, as well as links to sites of related topics. The address is:

www.spiritualityatwork.org

Also note that you can sign up to be on their
e-mailing list at the site. That way you will be kept informed regarding up-coming events.